A global community of users, contributors and developers, not-for-profit organization Mozilla (News – Alert) is dedicated to keeping the power of the Web in people’s hands. From open browser Firefox and open operating system Firefox OS, the organization is now offering a decentralized and secure authentication system for the Web, based on the open BrowserID protocol, prototyped by Mozilla.

Called Mozilla Persona, deployed on its website last July, is a cross-browser login system for the Web that’s easy to use and launch.  It works on all major browsers, but unlike others, it uses e-mail addresses as identifiers, and is more focused on privacy.

It is intended to be fully integrated in the browser.

According to Mozilla, Persona completely eliminates site-specific passwords, freeing users and websites from the burden of creating, managing and securely storing passwords. Bypassing the friction associated with account creation, the Persona user can sign into a new site, like Voost or The Times Crossword, with just two clicks.

Developers can also add Persona to a website in just a couple of hours.

Best of all, added Mozilla, there’s no lock-in. Developers get a verified e-mail address for all of their users.

Persona is extremely flexible, and within the program, the user’s identity is the e-mail address. Consequently, you can use as many e-mail addresses as desired, but you still only need one password.

Also, Persona preserves your privacy; it does not track your activity around the Web. It creates a wall between signing you in and what you do once you’re there. The history of what sites you visit is only kept on your computer.

In a YouTube (News – Alert) video link below, Mozilla’s Jed Pearson explains how Persona works under the hood. In this novel approach, Pearson uses stuffed animals and note cards to explain the interworkings of Mozilla’s Persona.